Ming to Qing Dynasties, China, ca. 1368 to 1912 CE. This is a thin black jade (nephrite) carving of an animal that looks like a chimera of a fish and a pig that is curled around itself. It has some subtle red tones and is aesthetically very pleasing. Size: 2.4" W x 1.5" H (6.1 cm x 3.8 cm).

Chinese art has incorporated jade since the Neolithic period; quarries for nephrite, the formal name for jade, have been found in modern-day southern Mongolia that date to ca. 4000 BCE. The stone was prized for its hardness, its beautiful coloration (with a milky white being the most desired), and its durability. By the third millennium BCE, we know that jade had also come to be associated with immortality. Jade was used to make everything from everyday household objects and decoration to the ceremonial suits in which Han dynasty emperors were buried – with the belief that jade would preserve the body and the soul for eternity.

Repaired from 2 pieces